WASHINGTON – Today, the
American Civil Liberties Union praised President Barack Obama’s efforts to
restore quality reproductive health care for women around the world. President
Obama rescinded the “Global Gag Rule,” a federal policy supported by the Bush
administration that cut off crucial federal funding for family planning services
overseas.

"President Obama’s
decision to rescind the Global Gag Rule helps to restore America’s place as a global leader on
reproductive health and rights,” said Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU
Washington Legislative Office. “This move underscores the country’s deep-rooted
commitments to free speech and democratic participation. The Bush policy cut off
U.S. support for desperately needed
family planning services – including contraceptives, HIV-AIDS prevention, and
maternal care – simply because an organization used its own money to advocate
for better reproductive health care."

The Global Gag Rule,
also known as the Mexico City Policy when President Reagan first imposed it in
1984, denies U.S. aid to foreign non-governmental organizations that use their
own funding – not funding given by the U.S. government – to advocate for safe
and legal abortion care, to perform legal abortions in their own countries, or
to counsel and refer women for abortions.

"By lifting the
Global Gag Rule, President Obama has given a clear signal that his
administration understands the importance of ensuring access to the full range
of reproductive health services,” said Louise Melling, director of the ACLU
Reproductive Freedom Project. “Today’s action is important to the lives and
health of women and their families throughout the world.”

The ACLU also called
on President Obama to act swiftly to restore and improve access to reproductive
health care at home, including ending abstinence-only-until-marriage programming
and halting Bush’s midnight Health Care Denial Rule that threatens access to
contraception, especially for low-income and uninsured women who rely on
federally funded health centers for care.